In order to reduce the still high rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the United States, it is important to address two primary questions:

1. What factors influence adolescents’ decisions about sex?
2. Which of these factors can be altered?

By identifying and targeting those factors that both affect adolescents’ decisions about sex and can be changed by interventions, the chances of reducing sexual risk-taking among teens are greatly improved.

The following two papers and accompanying matrixes provide an exhaustive analysis of the hundreds of factors that can effect teen sexual behavior.

1. Sexual Risk and Protective Factors: Factors Affecting Teen Sexual Behavior, Pregnancy, Childbearing, and Sexually Transmitted Disease
by Douglas Kirby, Ph.D. and Gina Lepore, B.A. summarizes the results of studies conducted in the United States.

Readers are welcome to review the entire document, the matrix listing all 400+ risk and protective factors, or to download any or all portions of document. This publication is only available as a PDF.

• Sexual Risk and Protective Factors: Executive Summary [Updated December 2007]
  
  
• Sexual Risk and Protective Factors: Full Paper [Updated December 2007]
  
  
• A Matrix of Risk and Protective Factors Affecting Teen Sexual Behavior, Pregnancy, Childbearing and Sexually Transmitted Disease [Updated December 2007]
  
  NOTE: Readers in search of information on a particular risk or protective factor should consider using the find function (simultaneously pressing the “control” and “f” buttons on your keyboard) to search for a particular word describing that factor, e.g., “income,” “attachment,” “self-esteem,” or “attitudes.”
  
  
• About Douglas Kirby, Ph.D.

2. Risk and Protective Factors Affecting Adolescent Sexual Behavior, Pregnancy, Childbearing, HIV/AIDS, and other Sexually Transmitted Infections
by Kristin Mmari, Dr.PH, M.A. and Robert Blum, M.D., Ph.D. summarizes the results of studies conducted in developing countries.

• Risk and Protective Factors Affecting Adolescent Sexual Behavior, Pregnancy, Childbearing, HIV/AIDS, and other Sexually Transmitted Infections
  
  NOTE: Readers in search of information on a particular risk or protective factor should consider using the find function (simultaneously pressing the “control” and “f” buttons on your keyboard) to search for a particular word describing that factor, e.g., “income,” “attachment,” “self-esteem,” or “attitudes.”

For more information: A discussion of risk and protective factors can also be found in the National Campaign publication, Emerging Answers: Research Findings on Programs to Reduce Teen Pregnancy, also by Douglas Kirby.

About the Putting What Works to Work project: Putting What Works to Work (PWWTW) is a project of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, funded, in part, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Through PWWTW, the National Campaign is translating research on teen pregnancy prevention and related issues into user friendly materials for practitioners, policymakers, and advocates. Materials produced for the PWWTW project are supported by Grant #U88/CCU322139-01 from the CDC. Contents of these materials are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC.